Fluid seal



Aug. 1948.. G. L. MRS Er AL 2. 46.380

FLUID SEAL Filed April 12, 1945 11%?"1'08-5. r e e er Patente Aug. 3, 1948 v UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE sserss' i iesna gr m!- W r. O aa mention of Application April 12, ms, Serial No. 587,908

2 claims. (cl. ass-z) I l v z a The present invention relates to a shaft seal are inclined in such a direction with respect to adaptedtoseal the Joint betweenarotating shaft the relative rotation of the seal and the coand a housing against the leakage of liquids and operating sealing surface that they tend to force the entrance of dirt or other foreign material. liquid in a direction opposite to the direction of It is the general object of the invention to pro- 5 leakage. vide a seal of the above type formed from a yield- An important feature of the invention resides ing rubber-like plastic material incorporating in the employment of sharp, V-shaped threads,

means which, upon relative rotation between the the apexes or points of which enga e the shaft.

seal and the cooperating sealing surface, is ei'fec- As a result of this arrangement there is no aptivetoapply an opposing force either to the leakpreciable area of contact between the threats age of a liquid in one direction or to the entrance and the co-operating sealing surface or shaft, of foreign material fromthe opposite direction, and consequently the threads will penetrate any or both. liquid film, and contact the shaft. They are Another object of the invention is to provide assisted in the performance of this function by an improved seal of the abov m ti ed type the continuous annular lip,v since it serves to which is effective to seal against a slight pressure properly space or locate the threads with respect tending tocause leakage. to the sealing surface, and therefore insures that Other objects and advantages of the invention they will make proper contact and will not be will become apparent from the following speciflmaterially distorted by such contact. While the cation, the accompanying drawings. and the threads are exceedingly na-rrow at their apex s.

appended claims. I they are not deflected laterally to a detrimental In the drawings, Figures 1, 2, and 3 are transextent by the liquid, for the reason that there is verse. sectional views through three different ema substantially balanced pressure at both sides of bodiments of the principles of the invention, as each thread. The threaded areas of the seal are applied to a shaft seal adapted to co-operate with preferably formed with a single continuous heliarotating cylindrical shaft.. cal or spiral thread but a multiple thread may In its broadest aspect. the present invention rebe used.

sides in a seal molded from yielding rubberlike- The D th areas y e p material and provided on its sealing face with tioned on either side of the continuous liq i the combination of a sharp, V--shaped, helical so sealing ip. If y e o the liquid e o the thread adapted to contact at its apex the cocontinuous annular lip they perform the function operating sealing surface on a. shaft nd n or of relieving that lip of the pressure of the liquid. more continuous annular lips positioned along- If y are On e opposite side they im a side of the threaded area and likewise adapted eount p o t e p ch will balance a to engage the shaft surface. The continuous anp e t e liquid side o t e ip and he nular lip is preferably provided with a sealing p n leakagen addition o the Pri y surface-of appreciable width which closel fits liquid sealing lip mentione it i esira le,

and is referably ieldingly forced into contact t u h n t c sary, to pr vide an additiona with the cooperating sealing surface to resist continuous annular Sealing p at the Opp e the leakag of liquid ast th s e], s an 40 side of the threaded area to assist the first lip in arrangement of the sealing lip is. fairly satisfaccontrolling the position of the threads with retory alone, but on relative movement between the spect to the co-operating sealing surface. sealing li and the shaft a film of liquid will form In addition to t above e t es t e nvenbetween the two, and if there is any difference in hen o p e t e incorporation of means to pressure at opposite sides of the seal resulting as prevent the entrance of dirt from the nonliquid from the force of gravity or otherwise there is a e of th 8881- This m y be pl d either tendency of the liquid to leak past the lip. In by an auxiliary dirt sealing lip or by an oppositely accordance with the present invention, this tendinclined threaded portion, or both, depending ency is opposed by the action of the threaded upon the degree of protection required.

portion of the seal, since the V-shaped threads In Figure 1 of the drawings there is illustrated in section, one embodiment of the principles outlined above. The seal illustrated in Figure 1 is adapted to co-operate with a cylindrical shaft and is designed to prevent a leakage of liquid from the left-hand side of the seal, as viewed in the drawing, to the right-hand side and at the same time prevent the entrance of dirt from the right-hand side. The seal is formed by molding a suitable rubberlike plastic material into a onepiece annular body I having an attachin flange 2 radially spaced therefrom, and a connecting radial web 3 of relatively thin section. A ring -4 of metal or other relatively hard material is embedded in the flange 2 and is adapted to have a pressflt on the stationary portion of th shaft housing in the usual manner. It will be appreciated that the ring 4 may, if desired, be exposed atthe outer periphery of the flange and thus be adapted to make an internal press fit if desired. The thin radial section 3 permits limited radial and axial movements of the main body portion I of the seal with reference to the attaching member 4, to accommodate misalignment and minor movements of the shaft which is to be sealed.

The inner face of the body portion l of the seal is provided at the left-hand side with a continuous annular sealing lip 5 adapted to contact the shaft. It will be noted that the sealing lip I has a sealing face of appreciable width and that it is resiliently held in sealing engagement with the shaft by means of a garter spring 5' in the usual manner. The sealing face of the body of the seal is likewise provided with a sharp V-shaped threaded portion 6, the V-shaped threads lying in a helical path and hence at a slight angle to the lip i. The apexes or points of the V-shaped threads lie in approximately the same plane as the sealing face 5 and hence are adapted to contact the shaft engaged by the li 5.

The seal illustrated in Figure l is adapted for use on a shaft which rotates in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed from the left of Figure 1. Consequently, the threads 6 extend at such an angle that they tend to feed any liquid which leaks past lip 5 back toward the .lip. This results in building up a counterpressure at the right side of the sealing lip 5, which will effectively oppose any tendency to leakage past the lip. The V- shaped threads are formed with sharp shaftengaging points and are preferabl made quite small so that any liquid-in the space between the threads will tend to be carried around the seal by the rotating shaft.

It will be noted that in the embodiment of Figure 1 the sealing lip 5 is located on the liquid side of the threaded portion of the seal. Accordingly there is provided an auxiliary sealing lip I similar to the lip 5 but which serves to keep dirt from entering the threaded portion 6 and being fed thereby past the sealing lip 5 and into the housing. The auxiliary sealing lip 1., being located at the opposite side of the threaded portion 8, also assists the lip 5 in properly locating the threaded portion with respect to the co-opcrating shaft.

In Figure 2 is illustrated another embodiment of the invention with a continuous annular oil sealing lip 8 located at the opposite side of a threaded portion 9 from the left-hand or liquid side of the seal. With this arrangement. as indi cated above, the threaded section 9 serves to relieve liquid pressure on the sealing lip 8 and hence to prevent leakage of liquid. The seal of Figure 2 likewise incorporates an auxiliary dirt sealing lip in in combination with a threaded portion ll having threads inclined in a helix in an opposite direction to that of the helical threads 8. As a result the lip I! and the threaded portion H serve to prevent the entrance of dirt to the housing. In that connection the threaded portion ll actually tends to feeddirt outwardly of the housing if any should enter during the time that the rotary shaft is stationary. It will be noted that the sealing lips I and III are held in contact with the shaft by means of a sinsle garter spring It. In all other respects the construction shown in Figure 2 is similar to that illustrated in Figure 1.

In Figure 3 a further embodiment of the invention adapted for use under more severe conditions is illustrated. In the construction of Figure 3 the seal is provided with an internal continuous annular liquid sealing lip I2 in combination with a garter spring l3 and a helical threaded portion l4 positioned on the right-hand side of the lip I! in the manner illustrated in Figure 1. In addition, however, the seal is provided with a pair of central sealing lips l5 and IS, an outer sealing lip II, and an intermediate threaded portion III, which is threadedin an opposite helix to that of the threaded portion l4. In this construction the lip l2 and thread I4 serve to prevent leakage of liquid; the lip l1 and threaded portion l8 serve to prevent the entrance of foreign material; and the central lips l5 and I8, which are preferably held in engagement with the shaft by means of a garter spring l9, are supplementary sealing lips whose principal function is to assist in controlling the location of the threaded portions I4 and It with respect to the shaft.

It will be apparent that the seal of Figure 3 may be modified by omitting the sealing lip l2 and the garter spring l3 if desired. in which event the continuous annular lip l5 becomes the liquid sealing lip. Alternatively, the seal of Figure 3 may be modified by omitting the external lip l1.

While several modifications of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that other modifications may be made in the design and construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth herein.

What is claimed is:

l. A shaft seal comprising an annular mounting section and an annular shaft engaging section formed of one piece of yieldable rubber-like material with a relatively thin connecting portion between the sections to permit radial movement of one section relative to the other, said shaft contacting section having an internal surface provided with a V-shaped helical thread, the apex of which is adapted to contact the shaft, and also having an annular shaft engaging sealing surface of appreciabl width adaptedto maintain the apex of the thread in contact with the shaft and prevent distortion of the thread by excessive contact pressure.

2. A shaft seal comprising an annular mounting section and an annular shaft engaging section formed of one piece of yieldable rubber-like material with a relatively thin connecting portion between the sections to permit radial movement of one section relative to the other, said shaft contacting section having an internal surface provided with a V-shaped helical thread, the apex of which is adapted to contact the shaft, and also having a pair of annular shaft engaging sealing surfaces of appreciable width on opposite sides of said thread adapted to maintain the apex of the thread in contact with the shaft and prevent distortion of the thread by excessive contact pressure.

GEORGE L. MEYERS. JOHN C. SHUI'I,

REFERENCES crrEn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS I Number flame Date 1,208,045 Swart et a1. Dec. 12, 1916 1,212,089 Miller'et a1. Jan. 9, 191'! Number Number 

